Is there room in this New World Order of Gaming for a rpg that does not utilize the d20 system? I continue to hold out hope that there is room for more than one game system in the 21st century.
That's one of the reason I am impressed with Visionary Games' new Archangel rpg. They've had the guts to buck the odds and try publishing their labor of love with an original rule system. The other reason I am impressed, is because they've created quite a fun game. It certainly proved a pleasant diversion for my gaming group.
Archangel is an rpg set in the biblical era (not being particularly knowledgeable about theology, I use this term loosely), a time when the forces of Heaven battled with the scions of Hell for dominance on Earth in the so called Prophet Wars. You play defenders of the faith, empowered with divine abilities to save humanity from the ultimate evil. My players were initially sceptical about a game with obvious religious overtones, but they were swayed by my argument that it is really just a fantasy game with an epic scope set in a historic era. They've played in Ancient Greece and Rome before, and loved it, so why not? And besides, as I explained to them, there's a lot to like here: evil gods with terrifying minions; exotic lands (Egypt, Babylon, Palestine, Greece, etc.); and the opportunity to create legendary heroes with cool special abilities.
The lay-out and general appearance is fairly professional if not exactly exciting, and the B W artwork is quite good. I've certainly seen a lot worse, and some of it is excellent. While certainly nothing to do cart-wheels over, in my opinion Archangel has managed to avoid the sub-par production values painfully common among small press publications.
As with any new system, Archangel takes some getting used to. To begin with, creating characters takes a fair amount of time, but this is not a result of faulty/misleading rules, poor writing, or substandard layout. Rather, it's because players get to determine class, attributes, perks, flaws, and skills. Character creation is point based, so the player has a lot of lee-way in shaping his pc. In fact, the system seems like an amalgamation of GURPS and D&D, employing the strengths of each. The result is a detailed pc
Combat and skill resolution generally runs pretty smoothly, and there are not an abundance of rules to bog the game down in minutiae. As I mentioned, there is a lot of D&D inspired mechanics here, so after a while it becomes almost second nature.
Archangel uses percentile and 20-sided dice only. Whenever a character wishes to an action, he must roll under either an attribute or a skill. Pretty standard and simple. Attribute checks use a d20; a player rolls under his attribute, though it will be modified based upon the difficulty of the task. Attributes only come into play when no specific skill applies, so generally you'll be rolling d10's.
Skill checks work a little differently. Simply roll the die; the target number is based upon how skilled you are. For example, assuming the task is of average complexity, a character with a 2 Skill Level needs to roll a 90 to succeed, while a character with a 10 Skill Level need roll a 50, and someone with an 18 Skill Level needs but a 15. A Gm is encouraged to modify the difficulty (by adding steps to a characters Skill Levels) for tasks of varying complexity.
The result is a system both simple and fairly realistic. Best of all, it works in play.
Combat is similarly straightforward, though you have a great many options due to the various powers a character may possess. In its simplest form, you simply roll your weapon skill, using percentile as with any other skill resolution. You then consult the Attack and Damage chart which determines whether you hit and what kind of wound you inflicted (ranging from Graze to Critical). The higher the better, obviously.
Joe Blow, with his weapon skill of 2 needs an 85 to even graze an opponent, while with a similiar roll, Ares the God of War (he of the 19 Blade skill)would inflict a critical hit. Of course, these attack rolls are modified by armour, dodges, parrying, and other invariables.
The system that stresses skills over attributes, and accurately portrays experianced individuals as being more capable than neophytes. People like Ares are truly awe-inspiring, because they are so damn good at what they do! I've had a complaint or two about the concept or rolling over a target number on a perecntile roll; I personally don't see a problem with it, and neither did my gaming group. As long as the system promotes a fun game, its props to us.
Certainly there is still some work to do, principally in terms of detailing the game world, which is sadly glossed over. As well, we need a more comprehensive list of worthy foes to combat, though those that are included are pretty neat. I was especially fold of Ares. My advice if you come upon him is to duck! (where's Zena when you need her?). These issues will need to be addressed soon in order for players to run an extended campaign, but it is my understanding that follow-up sourcebooks to begin publications later in the year will address them. I hope so, because in my mind the greatest strength of the game is its epic Prophet War backdrop and the rich era or play.
SJG has made its living out of mining interesting and often overlooked genres particularly taking advantage of fascinating eras in our history. Visionary games beat them to the punch on this one. Ignoring the religious connections to Christianity and Judiasm for a moment, what you find in the biblical tales are wonderfully textured and complex epic stories. Archangel taps into this for inspiration, setting the stage for the Prophet Wars the climactic battle between good and evil for dominance of mankind. How much more exciting can you get?
The ancient Middle-East is an exotic setting rich in intriguing locales (Greece, Rome, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and so on). With the Prophet Wars as a backdrop, and the vast rpg potential inherant in these lands, an Archangel campaign can be be gripping and truly epic. Characters have the opportunity to witness historic events and to battle insidious evil consider the mini-adventure I ran with my group as a playtest session. Ares, the Greek God of War and actually a fallen angel,incites the Spartans to join the ill-fated Achaean League against Rome in 145 BC. In history, the Spartans refused and were thus spared slaughter when the Roman army destroyed the league. My PCs were instrumental in preventing the Spartans from making the rash decision to join the Achaean League by defeating the minions of Ares.
How cool is that? Archangel represents epic storytelling at its finest.
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